Rewind back to March 2021: Premier League football was being played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic, there was a 'roadmap' to try and get the UK out of its third lockdown and Chelsea had just picked up a rare victory against Liverpool at Anfield.
Mason Mount scored the only goal of the game – and what a goal it was – as the Blues secured three points in an empty stadium. It was Chelsea's first Premier League win at Anfield since November 2014. A rare feat for the club and a statement of intent from newly-appointed Thomas Tuchel, who was less than two months into his reign at Chelsea.
Almost two years on, that is Chelsea's last win at Anfield as Graham Potter heads to Merseyside on Saturday afternoon to try and make it back-to-back Premier League victories for his side for the first time since October. Potter saw his side beat Crystal Palace last time out at Stamford Bridge – and was relieved – but he knows all too well about the difficulty of recording consecutive wins in the top-flight.
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Winning at Anfield, however, is something Potter has managed to do before. The Chelsea head coach led Brighton to their first win at Liverpool in the league since 1982 back in February 2021 as the Seagulls won 1-0. It was back when Brighton were fighting relegation and the surprise three points could not have come at a better time for Potter and his men.
They were different times, though. Liverpool really struggled at Anfield without their supporters in attendance, but ever since their return, they have lost just once in the Premier League when playing at home (last year against Leeds United).
Potter, though, will be missing a load of Chelsea players for the long trip to Merseyside at the weekend. N'Golo Kante, Wesley Fofana, Armando Broja, Raheem Sterling, Christian Pulisic, Denis Zakaria and Edouard Mendy are all expected to miss the game through injuries.
Meanwhile, Joao Felix is suspended, serving the second game of his three-match ban following his sending off at Fulham recently on his debut. Both Ben Chilwell and Reece James have been pictured at Cobham this week training with their teammates, so there is perhaps an outside shot the full-back duo could return to the squad for the trip to Liverpool.
Mykhailo Mudryk is expected to be with the Chelsea squad for the first time since completing his big-money move from Shakhtar Donetsk at the weekend. Potter faces the media on Friday afternoon for his pre-match press conference and is set to deliver the latest team news to the public there.
Liverpool, who picked up their first win of 2023 with a 1-0 victory over Wolves in the FA Cup third round replay on Tuesday evening, they are also without a number of players due to injury problems.
Jurgen Klopp is expected to be missing Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, Virgil van Dijk, Roberto Firmino and Arthur Melo. The fitness of Darwin Nunez is something that will be assessed ahead of the game, with the Uruguay international missing both of the Reds' last two games because of a knock to his thigh.
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